Fate

Lüshuiwan, the Lu family mansion. Lu Xiaolan had been released from the dungeon and returned to her own bedroom. To be honest, she did not know whether this was a good sign or not. That evening, Lu Dongliang came to see her. This was the first time she had seen her father since returning to the mansion. She bowed to him with proper etiquette, and Lu Dongliang put on a benevolent paternal smile. "Sit. You're home now; there's no need to be so formal. "Xiaolan, you've suffered these past few days. I had no other choice. Some things have to be done for the He family's eyes. Your mother told me about He Jiaqing. I believe you. But regarding this Li Banfeng, I still have a few questions for you. "I had people look into it. Li Banfeng indeed came to Puluo Province. He got off the train at Yaowanggou and has not been heard from since. You said he went to the He family ancestral residence, and I believe that too. "However, I received word from the Outer States that this Li Banfeng is nothing more than a white lamb with not a shred of cultivation. Even if he ran into the peddler after stepping off the train, he'd be nothing more than an unranked novice, a petty scoundrel. How could he possibly have escaped the He family ancestral residence?" Lu Xiaolan shook her head. "I told Mom, and I told Second Uncle. I truly have no idea how he got out." Lu Dongliang fell silent for a long moment, his brow furrowing slightly. "Xiaolan, there is a dwelling spirit in that ancestral residence. Qiu Zhiheng told me it's no ordinary dwelling spirit either. "Even you couldn't get out, so what ability could Li Banfeng have to escape? Even if I believe you, do you think the He family will?" "Who cares whether the He family believes it or not! Dad, don't even you believe me? How much suffering did I endure just to get the Xuansheng Red Lotus? Do you have any idea what kind of days I've been living through? How could I possibly lie to you?" Lu Xiaolan's voice had risen. Lu Dongliang blinked, his scowl deepening. "Xiaolan, let me ask you once more. Did Li Banfeng die by your hands when he arrived at the He family ancestral residence?" "He didn't die! He ran away!" "Is the Xuansheng Red Lotus in your hands?" Lu Dongliang's tone grew increasingly stern. "It's not with me! I don't even know what the Xuansheng Red Lotus is used for! Why would I keep it?" Lu Xiaolan's voice grew louder and louder. Lu Dongliang stopped asking questions. Silence fell over the room once again. Lu Xiaolan began to sob uncontrollably, genuinely aggrieved. Lu Dongliang abruptly stood up and walked out of her bedroom. He did not believe her. Not only did he not believe her, but the sight of her tears and hysterics filled him with utter revulsion. *** Late at night, Li Banfeng arrived at Paifang Street and saw the gramophone set outside Feng's Grocery Store once more. *Word on the travel permit?* He walked briskly into the shop. Shopkeeper Feng had not yet gone to sleep and led him straight into the back room. "Boss Li, the pills sold, but there's something fishy about it." "How so?" "A customer came in and bought twenty snake-spot pills, paying on the spot. Afterward, he asked for twenty Xuanchi Pills. "A single Xuanchi Pill goes for two hundred and fifty thousand, so twenty would be five million. It's his very first time buying anything in my shop, yet he wants to do business on such a massive scale. In all my years of running a business, I've never seen a customer like that." Li Banfeng pondered for a moment, then asked, "Shopkeeper Feng, do you have dry rations?" "Yes." "What about canned meat?" "Those too—Ingrid canned beef. How much do you want?" "Give me two crates of canned beef and pack thirty jin of dry rations." Shopkeeper Feng knew what Li Banfeng intended to do. "Boss Li, I have compressed biscuits here. Would you like some?" "Get me two crates. Do you have maps?" "I have maps of Puluo Province and Yaowanggou. Lüshuiwan, Kudaikan, Haichiling, Santoucha—I have them all. It's just that Puluo Province produces newland every year, so some maps aren't entirely accurate." "A general direction is enough. Give me one of each." Li Banfeng was leaving. The Lu family had found a lead. According to Yu Nan's description, Daboyins's cultivation was far above hers; he was certainly not someone at the second or third tier. Yaowanggou was no longer a place he could stay. Shopkeeper Feng immediately instructed Chunsheng to prepare the goods, then retrieved two fedoras and two fake mustaches from the counter. The fedoras had broad brims, ideal for obscuring one's face. Needless to say, both men understood the purpose of the mustaches. "Boss Li, take these with you; they'll come in handy on the road. And take the pills you consigned here with you as well." Li Banfeng took the fedoras and mustaches and said to Shopkeeper Feng, "Leave the pills with you. Sell as many as you can. If I don't make it back, consider them a gift." The corner of Shopkeeper Feng's eye twitched. In all his years of doing business, the man before him had shown true, heartfelt sentiment. Li Banfeng truly intended to give the pills to Shopkeeper Feng. For no other reason than the fact that Daboyins had spent money so freely earlier; had Shopkeeper Feng wished to, he could have sold Li Banfeng out at any moment. Yet he hadn't done so, and that loyalty was worth Li Banfeng's repayment. Just as Chunsheng finished packing the goods, a noise came from the front counter. "Shopkeeper Feng, have the pills I asked for arrived?" Hearing that voice, the hair on Li Banfeng's neck nearly stood on end. The private detective, Daboyins! Shopkeeper Feng signaled for Li Banfeng to stay in the back room and not come out. Putting on a wide smile, he walked to the front counter to greet the guest. "Honored customer, what brings you here so late?" Daboyins smiled. "Just happened to be passing by, so I came to inquire about the pills. Shall we step into the back room to talk details?" Shopkeeper Feng shook his head. "No need to go to the back room. There's no word on what you wanted yet. Why don't you come back in a couple of days?" "Still no word?" Daboyins looked rather surprised. "But my friend urgently needs the medicine. How many do you have in stock right now? Let's discuss the price in the back room." Shopkeeper Feng shook his head. "You've come at an inconvenient time. All my current stock has sold out." "Such bad luck? If you don't have Xuanchi Pills, you must have snake-spot pills, right? How about we head into the back room to discuss business regarding the snake-spot pills?" Shopkeeper Feng glanced at Chunsheng and asked, "Do we have any snake-spot pills left?" Chunsheng scratched his head and said, "Boss, we ran out of snake-spot pills yesterday." "Out of snake-spot pills too?" Daboyins grew even more astonished. "Then what other pills do you have? Let's head to the back room and talk in detail." Every single sentence from Daboyins revolved around the back room. Clearly, he knew Li Banfeng was inside. At this rate, Shopkeeper Feng would not be able to hold him off for long. Inside the back room, Li Banfeng heard everything loud and clear through the Thread-Hook Earring. He stowed the cans, dry rations, and biscuits into the Portable Abode, then tossed the key out the window. Out at the front counter, Shopkeeper Feng's expression shifted, his smile vanishing. "Honored customer, I am out of pills. Please come back another day." "Out of every single pill? Shopkeeper Feng, did you give all the pills to someone else?" Shopkeeper Feng smiled thinly. "You shouldn't ask that, sir, because it has nothing to do with you." Daboyins shook his head. "I don't think you're being sincere. I'd like to go into the back room and see for myself whether there really are no pills." As he spoke, Daboyins rounded the counter and moved toward the back room. Chunsheng stepped forward to block his path. "What do you think you're doing? Did anyone invite you in? You think you can just barge in?" Daboyins chuckled. "Little brother, are you planning to resort to force with me?" "What if I am? You think I'm scared of a fake foreign devil like you?!" Chunsheng glared, grabbing the feather duster beside him. Anyone else would have laughed at Chunsheng for overestimating himself. Yet Daboyins did not laugh. Although Chunsheng held merely a feather duster, his posture and movements were distinctly unusual. "So you're a Martial Cultivator." Daboyins could tell that Chunsheng was indeed one. A Martial Cultivator could expertly wield any weapon; even a simple feather duster could be brought to bear with maximum effectiveness. A feather duster's primary offensive power lay in its wooden handle, which could thrust, sweep, or whip. But that did not mean the feathers were useless. The colorful feathers could disrupt an enemy's line of sight, and with a feather duster used for years, the cloud of ancient dust shaken loose could blind the opponent's eyes. From the side, Shopkeeper Feng chimed in, "As the saying goes, even if a deal falls through, goodwill remains. I will keep an eye out for those pills for you. There is no need to damage our harmony over such a small matter." Simple, ordinary words with nothing special about them. Yet to Daboyins's ears, they carried an undeniable, persuasive truth. *Is this the skill of spitting lotuses?* "Shopkeeper, are you a Literary Cultivator?" Shopkeeper Feng smiled faintly. "You may consider me one if you wish." Unable to ascertain Shopkeeper Feng's pathway, Daboyins nodded in praise. "What a grocery store, a true den of hidden dragons and crouching tigers." Tensions flared, and just as both sides were on the verge of fighting, Daboyins's eyes flickered, and he abruptly changed his mind. "My apologies for the intrusion. My friend is in urgent need of medicine, so I was a bit hasty with my words. Please don't take offense, gentlemen. I'll take my leave." Daboyins backed out of the grocery store. Shopkeeper Feng immediately had Chunsheng shutter the shop and went to the back room to find Li Banfeng. Li Banfeng was already gone. The window of the back room stood open, suggesting an escape through it, yet the window was barred. Shopkeeper Feng had no idea how Li Banfeng had managed to get out. *** Li Banfeng had thrown the key out the window and escaped by using the Portable Abode. He bolted down the deep alleys, intending to leave Ligou immediately. As he dashed out of Paifang Street, he suddenly felt something unusual behind him. It was extremely faint, but Li Banfeng could sense it—as if a thin thread were drifting in the air behind him. *Could it be...* Spider silk! Alarmed, Li Banfeng spun around and snapped the silk thread, but it was already too late. The sound of a harmonica drifted to his ears. Daboyins had caught up. He had laid spider silk all around Feng's Grocery Store. It was precisely because he sensed the vibration in the silk that he had left the store; otherwise, he would have forced his way in, and Shopkeeper Feng and Chunsheng combined might not have been his match. "A simple grocery store with so many high-grade pills—I knew something was strange. I heard that an outsider frequently bought goods at that shop, and you were the first person who came to mind. "I waited near the shop for two days, and you finally showed your face. That is the skill of a detective. "Li Banfeng, my friend, I know your name. Though we've crossed paths before, you might not know me yet. Allow me to introduce myself: I am private detective Daboyins. "I told you before that our fate would not be severed. We could have had a wonderful reunion in the Mount Jiangyue newland, but I never expected you to lure Madam Bagworm Moth over. "I suffered a great deal that day. You probably have no idea what I went through. But don't worry—everything I experienced that night, I will make you experience in turn." "Tell me then, what did you go through that night? I'm quite curious." Li Banfeng looked for an opportunity to flee, but he suddenly sensed danger lurking all around him. Daboyins laughed. "A Journey Cultivator? Sensed the danger, did you? The surroundings are covered in spiderwebs. Feel free to run if you wish. If you crash right into a web, it'll save me the trouble." With those words, Daboyins waved his hand, and two clumps of spider silk shot out from his sleeves. Li Banfeng dodged frantically. He avoided one clump only for another to follow, cornering him into a dead end in the blink of an eye. The sheer difference in power suffocated Li Banfeng. Though cultivation was invisible, Daboyins did not suppress his malicious intent in the slightest, making Li Banfeng realize he did not stand a single chance of winning. Revealing two sharp fangs, Daboyins stepped up close to Li Banfeng. "Give up your futile struggles. You have nowhere left to run." *What do I do?* *Lure him into the Portable Abode?* *Can Madam defeat him?* *Even if she can, what if he refuses to go inside?* Daboyins was not an opponent Li Banfeng could easily control. If he failed to lure him inside and Daboyins took the key, Li Banfeng would be trapped inside the Portable Abode forever. Li Banfeng touched the Tang dao at his waist, preparing to take a gamble to see if he could slice through the spider silk. Suddenly, a man's voice came from nearby: "Mister, you told me to go to Andetang Pharmacy. I went, but their doctor was useless. He couldn't cure my blisters at all." Daboyins froze and turned his head to see a foreigner—the foreigner covered head to toe in blisters. Critick looked at Daboyins and smiled faintly. "You gave me wrong directions, causing me quite a loss. As compensation, why don't you hand this man over to me?"